Chevron, BP Locked Into $200 Million Oil Wells Amid Price Slump

(Bloomberg) — Chevron Corp., BP Plc and other oil producers are locked into drilling offshore wells that cost as much as $200 million each because of rig contracts that were signed when crude was soaring above $140 a barrel.

Even as energy companies slash billions of dollars in spending to cope with the lowest prices in five years, deep-sea exploration continues unabated because canceling rig contracts would cost as much as finishing the projects, said Candida Scott, a senior director at Cambridge Energy Research Associates who tracks oil-development costs.


Demand for rigs that can fetch more than $600,000 a day to rent hasn